The Cider House Rules. By John Irving

The Cider House Rules

John Irving

Published 1985 by Ballantine Books

   This time Irving writes mainly about the process of birth, abortion, conception, contraception and so on. I suspect that he was writing at the time the 'Pro choice' v/s 'Pro life' debate was going on in the United States. Irving clearly is on the side of 'Pro choice' and presents the many of the well known arguments for his position, including rape, incest, accident, etc. as events that would lead to  pregnancies that it would be morally OK to terminate. He even describes one conception that happens due to a deliberately and maliciously introduced pinhole in the condom. In India of course, there is no debate on this, at least not in the law. MTP (medical termination of pregnancy) is legal, and offered in most hospitals, only up to a particular stage of the pregnancy of course.   

   Like many (if not all) of Irving's books the story is set in New England - Maine in this case. But a rural, backward undeveloped Maine in the first half of the 20th century. The book is full of a great many likeable characters (Homer, Larch, the nurses, all three of them, Wally, Candy...) and a few bad ones. But even those, redeem themselves somehow towards the end of the book. 
   This is a good book by John Irving, though I like 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' better.